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Serial Terminal Stopped Working — Parallax Forums

Serial Terminal Stopped Working

bpiperbpiper Posts: 3
in General Discussion
Is there any reason the serial terminal would stop working suddenly while using the propeller tool. I have been working on code with it and it has stopped without warning for any code. Even going to simple count programs from the tutorial pages, the terminal does not work.

Comments

  • ElectrodudeElectrodude Posts: 1,657
    edited 2016-09-01 16:18
    What OS are you using?

    Do you know that it's actually the serial terminal and not the Propeller? If you make a program that counts to the serial terminal and toggles an LED every time it does so, does the blinking go on after the counting stops?

    What are you powering your Propeller with? Try a wall power supply instead of batteries.
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    I'm guessing you've already tried this but I'll suggest it just in case you haven't.

    Have you closed the serial terminal and reopened it? I'm not sure why, but every so often, I have to close the terminal and reopen it, to get it to work correctly.
    Electrodude wrote: »
    If you make a program that counts to the serial terminal and toggles an LED every time it does so, does the blinking go on after the counting stops?

    I second Electrodude's suggestion.

    The most sensitive part of the Propeller is its PLL circuit. If the PLL is damaged the Prop can still toggle a LED but the timing will not be accurate enough to send serial data reliably. In order to use a Prop with a damaged PLL, you can't use the _clkmode setting.

    If you use a program to flash a LED and the LED doesn't flash, try removing the clock setting commands (the ones used in conjunction with a crystal such as _clkmode and _xinfreq).
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    Duane Degn wrote: »
    I'm guessing you've already tried this but I'll suggest it just in case you haven't.

    Have you closed the serial terminal and reopened it? I'm not sure why, but every so often, I have to close the terminal and reopen it, to get it to work correctly.
    Electrodude wrote: »
    If you make a program that counts to the serial terminal and toggles an LED every time it does so, does the blinking go on after the counting stops?

    I second Electrodude's suggestion.

    The most sensitive part of the Propeller is its PLL circuit. If the PLL is damaged the Prop can still toggle a LED but the timing will not be accurate enough to send serial data reliably. In order to use a Prop with a damaged PLL, you can't use the _clkmode setting.

    If you use a program to flash a LED and the LED doesn't flash, try removing the clock setting commands (the ones used in conjunction with a crystal such as _clkmode and _xinfreq).

    On a few occasions I have had to restart Windows ( 7 and 10 ) to get communications between the Prop and PC working. Blamed it on Windows, but no real evidence, and so few and far between that trying to find the cause does not seem worthwhile.
  • rjo__rjo__ Posts: 2,114
    I have never had the serial terminal stop working...ever... not on a Mac, not Windows 98,8 or 10. BUT I know that WIN 10 has only the slightest awareness of itself and will corrupt or otherwise interfere with its own drivers on occasion... I know this because I use Win 10 on an absolutely minimal platform and occasionally in the morning the screen driver is in a coma.
    This has occurred after I inadvertently started way more programs than I know I have RAM to accommodate.

    I have lately had problems with the Terminal showing spurious characters and a lot of them... but I also know that the particular port that I'm using was at one point on the verge of burning itself out and gave me all kinds of warning.s.. so it is a suspect. And I know that I have no idea what voltage is coming out of a second serial port which is then feeding bits into my terminal. So that is a suspect. The problem is that it only happens occasionally after about 24 hours and I haven't had time to look at it.

    I would suspect your computer hardware...then your operating system... and then last on my list would be the board you are actually using to interact with the computer. It could be on your side of the usb link... a Prop plug that wants to retire, a board with a borderline solder connection, etc.



  • bpiperbpiper Posts: 3
    I am using Windows 10. I have tried the Prop Serial terminal with another computer and it seems to work fine. It says that the serial is receiving data, but nothing appears on the screen. The power is through my computer directly by USB.
  • rjo__rjo__ Posts: 2,114
    What Propeller board are you using?

    Can you post the code you are using?
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